Producers infringed copyright and cashed in on BBC sitcom

Producers of the Only Fools And Horses dining experience have been deemed guilty of copyright infringement in a High Court ruling handed down today.

The show was found to have been passing itself off as a sanctioned spin-off from the BBC comedy.

Defence claims that they were parodying or pastiching the character of Del Boy were thrown out by  Deputy High Court Judge John Kimbell – who said the producers did not go far enough in making their own distinctive work.

In his written ruling, he said: ‘The whole purpose of [the dining experience] was for the audience to experience and interact with the much loved characters they were already familiar with and not to be exposed to a revised, exaggerated of challenging version.’

In a landmark decision, the court further ruled that the character Del Boy is protected by copyright – possibly  the first time an English court has gone as far as to specifically protect a character from a television series in this way.

The case was bought by Shazam Productions, a company owned and controlled by the family of the sitcom’s creator John Sullivan.

The judge said: ‘I do not accept that the nature of Only Fools The (Cushty) Dining Experience was so removed from Only Fools And Horses as to make it obvious that it was not associated with Only Fools And Horses

‘The similarity in the dress and appearance of the characters in the publicity material for  the dining experience, the use of the Only Fools domain name were, in my judgment, such that it was likely to cause casual observers to consider that the  dining experience show was officially authorised and associated with Only Fools and Horses.’

He also said that the script used by the dining experience cast ‘was result of extensive indirect copying from the [TV] scripts’. He added:  ‘All the characters used… are lifted wholesale without any attempt to rework or rename them.

‘This taking includes the characters’ full back stories, appearance, wants desires, frustrations, social context. It took the key moments, the key catchphrases, and most recognisable parts of OFAH and the characters were closely reproduced in what was intended to be pitch perfect manner.’

Sullivan's son Jim said: 'We are so very pleased with the court ruling today which makes it clear that copyright does actually mean something.

'This case was about protecting John Sullivan’s legacy and the integrity of his work.

'Only Fools and Horses did not just magically appear out of thin air overnight. It took my Dad decades of personal experience, skill and hard graft to create and develop an imaginary world rich in memorable characters, dialogue, jokes, plots and history. Growing up I saw first-hand how hard he fought to make Only Fools work, and we are immensely proud and protective of the joy it brought, and still brings, to so many people.

'The court held today that the other side’s show is unlawful and constitutes copyright infringement and passing-off. This legal action has taken a long time and has not for one moment been pleasant for me or my family. That said, some things are worth fighting for, and this will always be one of them.'

Commenting on the case, Michael Gardner, a partner at London law firm Wedlake Bell said: ‘The UK entertainment industry will be taking stock of a potentially important High Court decision announced today.  It could have implications for how they use characters taken from TV shows or other works.

‘The judge also held that even if he was wrong about Del Boy being a protected copyright work and it being infringed, then the defendants had still infringed copyright in certain scripts of Only Fools and Horses.’

But he added: ‘I think it is highly likely that the result will be appealed to the Court of Appeal, at least in relation to the Del Boy copyright point because it is such a novel decision.’

Chortle has approached producers Imagination Workshop for comment.

The company also stage the similar Faulty Towers dining experience, which has previously attracted the ire of John Cleese and which is again being staged at the Edinburgh Fringe his year.

He has raged: ‘These people are completely brazen, utterly shameless. They take our concepts, they take our characters, they take our characters’ names and then they change the W to a U and say it’s got nothing to do with our show.’’

Published: 8 Jun 2022